Venezuela: Death of Corina Machado leader detained by Maduro regime

His only mistake was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Reinaldo Araujo , Venezuelan leader of the political party founded by María Corina Machado, Vente Venezuela, suffered from obesity, hypertension and heart problems. On January 9, he attended a medical appointment with his wife, and when he left, he sat on a staircase to rest his legs, while watching the opposition demonstration. That moment would cost him his life 40 days later.

Suddenly the police and the Bolivarian National Guard appeared. They accused him of participating in the demonstration and took him into custody . His wife, Zoraide Matute, said that he never defended himself or tried to resist. He insisted that he was sure that he had done nothing wrong.

This week it was learned that Araujo, known as “Rei,” died after being detained for more than 40 days in a prison of the Nicolás Maduro regime, in the municipality of Valera, Trujillo state, and after being repeatedly denied medical assistance.

His wife had reported days earlier that he was in critical condition and needed urgent care , but he was not treated until hours before his death, when it was too late.

His relatives confirmed that he died due to a heart attack . He was rushed from Detachment 20 in Valera to the Pedro Emilio Carillo hospital, where he died of cardio-respiratory arrest despite medical intervention.

WORLD ALERT The regime murdered him. Reinaldo was a good man, a loving husband, son and father, an unconditional friend, an exemplary citizen.

For his work in the July 28th feat, the regime harassed him severely. His love for Venezuela and his family kept him… https://t.co/7nKtnCmk60

— Maria Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) February 24, 2025

“World Alert. For his work in the July 28th feat, the regime harassed him severely. On January 9th, the Maduro regime kidnapped him. He had serious health problems, but they denied him medical assistance. The regime murdered him ,” said María Corina Machado forcefully on her X account.

Araujo was a VV leader in the Juan Ignacio Montilla parish, in the Valera municipality, and was one of the key elements in carrying out the opposition campaign for the elections of July 28 in the Trujillo State.

First, after participating in the “freedom caravan” that received massive support from the Venezuelan community, and then during election day, when he remained protecting the electoral records after the victory of Edmundo González Urrutia.

“Reinaldo was a good man, a loving husband, son and father, an unconditional friend, an exemplary citizen. His love for Venezuela and his family always kept him strong. My heart is also torn. It is an infinite pain and indignation,” added the opposition leader.

According to data from Foro Penal, a non-governmental organization that denounces arbitrary arrests and political prisoners, there are currently 1,060 political prisoners in Venezuela , including 121 women and 4 adolescents. This case adds to the four more prisoners who have died since November 2024.

The Vente Venezuela Human Rights Committee has spoken out and called on the international community to “act immediately against the criminals against humanity who today cling to power and condemn hundreds of Venezuelans to death.”

Meanwhile, the NGO Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners condemned Araujo's death, saying he was arbitrarily detained and held in inhumane conditions: "This death in state custody is further evidence of how torture, denial of medical care and arbitrary imprisonment are used against political dissidents."

Maduro's declaration as the winner sparked mass protests in which 28 people died and 2,400 were arrested, of whom some 1,900 have been released. Several activists denounced that the arrests of opponents have not stopped.

As noted in the report that the IACHR submitted this year to the OAS on human rights violations, the government has used this repressive method to increase fear in the population through three stages: political persecution in the pre-election period; information opacity and electoral manipulation; and practices of state terrorism.

According to the report, this third stage constitutes arbitrary arrests in the context of demonstrations. “While most arrests occurred during demonstrations, arrests of people who were not participating in them were also recorded.”

Between July 28 and August 24, the Commission denounced arbitrary arrests: “Testimonies gathered by this Commission, as well as by the Independent International Mission, indicate that all arrests occurred without judicial warrants, and without informing the relatives of the place of detention.”

On November 14, Jesús Manuel Martínez, 36, also a member of María Corina Machado's party, died. Two other detainees, Jesús Rafel Álvarez, 44, and Alexander González Pérez, 43, died just days apart in December 2024 in the maximum security prison of Tocuyito, in the state of Carabobo.

The other case occurred in December, when Osgual González Pérez died after suffering from severe abdominal pain. He had been detained since August 1, 2024, and according to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, he was suspected of having hepatitis.